Lagunitas Pale Ale

I'm drinking a New DogTown Pale Ale right now, and I'm yet again disappointed by a Lagunitas beer. These guys use hop extract in almost everything they make and the bitterness is far too astringent. It's as if someone took an ash tray and dropped it into my glass.

It smells fantastic. Wonderfully inviting piney/sweet/malty nose.

Almost every beer I've had from Lagunitas has been a gross tasting bitterness. Hop extracts aren't bad, but they need to learn how to use them correctly. Use as much as you want at the beginning of the boil, but you have to follow that up with with copious amounts of additions in the boil of real hops so that you get that vegetation addition.

This beer tastes like a chemical mess.

Maybe something happens in the shipping. Lagunitas tastes great here in California. Very well respected brewery.

Could be a shipping and handling issue or possibly an east coaster hop palate issue, perhaps? New Dogtown Pale Ale is a fantastic beer and tastes and smell fantastic here in Beervana. Sorry you were dissappointed.

Most people here are in love with Lagunitas. Every craft beer bar has it and they all say they love it. Oddly enough it's all of us that are actually in the brewing industry that I've spoken to, that also hate their bittering flavors.

There's so much more to beer than just bittering. I'm a complete hophead and like it as bitter as you can make it. But only if it's done correctly. Lagunitas does not do it correctly. The masses may disagree, but there's a shinning star every once in awhile on ratebeer or beeradvocate that I've found that says the same thing that I just said.

Ew.

If I were the brewer at Lagunitas and I heard a statement like yours followed by
"The masses may disagree" I would feel quite confident that I'm nailing it. To each his own I guess. Maybe there are some breweries down in Tampa that make beer you would prefer to drink.

Look, I'm not here to defend my palate or try and prove to anyone on the west coast that I drink great beer. It's a forum, for crying out loud, and I couldn't care less if you or anyone judge me based on my opinion on a brewery that I think is over hyped.

I gave my reasons for the dislike in Lagunitas beer.

I meant no offense. Sorry man.

More for me.

I would have to say that lagunitas makes a plethora of great beers. I had my first taste about 3 months ago and fell in love. The hop taste is unique and refreshing. I am addicted and am looking forward to trying all of their beers as the seasonals change. Remember the best part of drinking beer is having the luxurary of exploring the myriad of craft brewerys!